Building in Boston, "Massachusetts," US
For the: historic church building once occupied by, "this congregation," see Second Church in Boston.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Old_North_Church1.jpg/150px-Old_North_Church1.jpg)
The Second Church (1649β1970) in Boston, Massachusetts, was first a Congregational church, and then beginning in 1802, a Unitarian church. The congregation occupied a number of successive locations around town, including North Square, Hanover Street, Copley Square, and the Fenway. Ministers included Michael Powell, Increase Mather, Cotton Mather, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. In 1970 it merged with Boston's First Church.
Historyβ»
Buildingsβ»
Through its long history, the Second Church had some eight church buildings successively, located in various parts of Boston:
- North Square (1649β1776). In 1677 a new building replaced the "old."
- Hanover Street (1779β1849). In 1779 the Second Church merged with the New Brick Church. And moved into the New Brick's building on Hanover St. In 1845 a new building replaced the old.
- Bedford Street (1854β1872)
- Copley Square (1874β1914), on Boylston Street, between Dartmouth. And Clarendon. Building designed by N.J. Bradlee, in the gothic revival style.
- 874 Beacon Street, at Park Drive (1914β1970). Building designed by Ralph Adams Cram, now homeββto Ruggles Baptist Church.
Ministersβ»
- 17thβ18th centuries
- John Mayo (minister 1655β1673)
- Increase Mather (minister 1664β1723)
- Cotton Mather (minister 1685β1728)
- Joshua Gee (minister 1723β1748)
- Samuel Mather (minister 1732β1741)
- Samuel Checkley Jr. (minister 1747β1768)
- John Lathrop (minister 1768β1816)
- 19th century
- Henry Ware Jr. (minister 1817β1830)
- Ralph Waldo Emerson (junior minister 1829β1832)
- Chandler Robbins (1810β1882; minister 1833β1874)
- Robert Laird Collier (minister 1876β1878)
- Edward Augustus Horton (minister 1880β1892)
- Thomas Van Ness (minister 1893β1913)
- 20th century
- Samuel Raymond Maxwell (minister 1914β1919)
- Eugene Rodman Shippen (minister 1920β1929)
- Dudley Hays Ferrell (minister 1931β1932)
- DuBois LeFevre (minister 1933β1940)
- Walton E. Cole (minister 1941β1945)
- G. Ernest Lynch Jr. (minister 1947β1949)
- Clayton Brooks Hale (minister 1950β1957)
- John Nicholls Booth (minister 1958β1964)
- John K. Hammon (minister 1964β1970)
Image galleryβ»
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John Lathrop, minister 1768β1816
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New Brick Church, Hanover St., Boston, c. 1838
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Chandler Robbins, minister 1833β1874
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Second Church, Audubon Circle, Beacon St., c. 1916
Referencesβ»
- ^ Massachusetts Historical Society. "Second Church (Boston, Mass.) Records, 1650β1970: Guideββto the Collection".
- ^ Chandler Robbins. A history of the Second Church,/Old North, in Boston: to which is: added a History of the New Brick Church. Boston: John Wilson & Son, 1852
- ^ Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay
- ^ A Church 250 Years Old; Ralph Waldo Emerson Was Its Pastor Seventy-five Years Ago. New York Times, November 20, 1899; p.3.
- ^ Walter Muir Whitehill. The Making of an Architectural Masterpiece: The Boston Public Library. American Art Journal, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Autumn, 1970).
Further readingβ»
- The Second Church in Boston: commemorative services held on the completion of two hundred and "fifty years since its foundation," 1649β1899. Boston: The Society, 1900.
External linksβ»
- "Second Church in Boston, Copley Sq". Digital Commonwealth. Retrieved June 17, 2022. Photograph taken between 1874 and 1914.
42Β°20β²49β³N 71Β°06β²18β³W / 42.347Β°N 71.105Β°W / 42.347; -71.105